Social Comparison in Healthy Adult Peloton Bikers: How Visual Display of Exercise Data Affects Performance

Abstract

UniversityIn group exercise settings, individuals compare their performance against others, a process called social comparison. Although social comparison in laboratory-based exercise settings has been investigated, little is known about how exercising with others can boost motivation to perform in a non-laboratory group exercise setting with data display. Peloton bikers (N = 26) completed the same 30-minute cycling session in three conditions: group data display, individual data display, and no data display. Participants’ exercise performance (i.e., heart rate, calories burned, and distance cycled) was assessed for each condition. Ego orientation and social comparison were investigated as predictors of performance. Results indicated that in the group data condition, participants had higher heart rates (p = .02), calories burned (p = .03), and longer distance cycled (p < .001) compared to the no data condition. Positive correlations emerged between social comparison and calories burned (r = .52), social comparison and distance (r = .45), and calories burned and distance (r = .75). Additionally, there was a negative correlation between ego orientation and HR (r = -.45), and between task and ego orientations (r = -.47). Ego orientation explained 19% of the variance in HR, and social comparison accounted for 20% and 27% of the variance in distance and calories burned, respectively. These results suggest that social comparison, ego orientation, and visually displayed data can all improve exercise performance. This study is bridging the gap between research and practice by providing further evidence of the application of the motivational effect of visually displayed exercise data in a group exercise setting. Specifically, fitness professionals can utilize the visual presentation of exercise data to increase their participant’s engagement, while being cognizant of the risk of over-exertion.